


Fake Beards and Kettle Corn

by HollowHearted



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Candy, First Kiss, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-16 17:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16499276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowHearted/pseuds/HollowHearted
Summary: Theo has a frankly awesome Halloween costume. It's not his fault Liam's frankly terrified of it the first time he sees it.





	Fake Beards and Kettle Corn

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I'm a couple days late, but who's watching? Happy Halloween!

Liam nearly ran into me as he came into the exam room of the animal clinic and screamed. Actually screamed. I disolved into a fit of giggles. He glared at me, still clutching his chest.

“What. The hell. Are you wearing?” he asked.

“It’s my Halloween costume,” I said. “Duh.”

“You look like a biker druid.” Deaton raised an eyebrow. Liam hurried to add, “Like, old paintings of druids. With the long white beards. Making human sacrifices under oak trees. In Stonehenge. Not like the druids of today.”

I snickered. “That was the lamest coverup ever.”

He huffed. “Whatever. Where did you get that beard?”

“I made it. There was some fluffy fabric at Hancock’s. Here.” I pulled it off and showed him. “It’s just got an elastic bit that goes around your head.”

“What are you even supposed to be?”

I shrugged. “Halloween used to be about dressing up and looking weird or spooky. Modern society has twisted it into dressing up as movie characters. Deaton’s helping me with the belt. I needed to see an aconite root to make it realistic without actually harming myself by using an aconite root.”

“You’re wearing a leather jacket with a bathrobe over it, and a fake aconite root belt over that, and a fake beard.”

“It’s not a bathrobe,” I huffed, pretending to be offended.

“What kind of messed up Halloween party are you going to?”

“Not one that you were invited to.” That was somewhat true. I wasn’t going to the pack’s Halloween party.

***

“Trick or treat!”

I narrowed my eyes, staring each nine year old in the face for a few seconds. There was dead silence.

”Boo!” I yelled, making them all scream. I laughed. “Here you go, kids. Happy Halloween!”

They hurriedly said their thank yous and ran away. I smiled, going back inside. I’d started renting this house after the pack had pestered me about living in my truck. Specifically Liam. Why he cared, I didn’t know. But it turned out to be a nice house. No, Theodore, you do not wish you’d moved in with Liam, or that he’d moved in with you. No. You do not.

I smiled, looking around. I had done a _great_ job with the decorations. I loved Halloween. Twenty really was too old to trick or treat, but it hadn’t been _that_ long since I’d been a young trick-or-treater. I knew how fun it was, and I could still participate in the rich tradition that was Halloween, just in a different way.

I also knew how moms were about candy. My mom had never allowed me to keep any suckers or hard candy. I could still hear her say, “That coats your teeth in sugar. You don’t want all your teeth to rot and fall out, do you?”

So I’d gotten Baby Ruths and Midnight Milky-Ways and stuff like that. Candy bars, and a ton of them. And I was a very generous candy-giver. Once the kids’ hard candy had been confiscated, they’d still have plenty if they’d come to my house.

I heard another knock and opened the door suddenly, staring down at the six year old Boba Fett.

“Trick or treat,” he asked timidly.

“Hmm…” I hummed thoughtfully. He started to shift back toward the edge of the porch where his mom was waiting. I grinned, even though he couldn’t see through the beard. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you candy if you let Han Solo go.”

He nodded.

“Promise?”

He nodded again.

“Well then, here you go.”

A rather large group came next and I was too busy making sure everyone got candy to see who the somewhat taller figure in the back was. Once all the kids had gone I stood straight again and stared at them.

Liam stared back. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked, then spluttered, trying to get the mustache fluff out of my mouth. I hadn’t designed this beard to talk in. 

“I don’t really know. I guess I came to see what all the fuss down this street was about and it turned out to be you.”

“I thought you were going to the pack’s party?”

“Everyone got too drunk to deal with.”

We were interrupted by another group of kids. Ignoring Liam, I stared at them all individually and then yelled “Boo!”

The twelve year old in the back didn’t scream, but the four year old and Liam did. I tried not to laugh as I handed over the candy. No, Theodore. Liam being jumpy is not cute. He glared at me when they’d gone, daring me to say a word. I didn’t, and tried to ignore his presence. So what if I gave out candy? None of his business.

“Nice jack o’lanterns,” he said eventually. 

“Thanks,” I replied, a little suspiciously. 

A moment later he asked, “How many are there?”

“I think ten, total. There are some in the house.”

He went inside. I frowned. Why did he care about the pumpkins? Why was he even here? I gave out candy to the next group of kids and went in after him. He was in the living room, frowning.

“What?” I demanded. 

He gestured vaguely at the room. There were a couple jack o’lanterns in the window, some fake spider webs, and I had a Bauhaus album playing moderately quietly in the background while my videotape of The Mummy’s Hand was on with the sound turned down. And the cardstock pumpkin banner was up on the wall. 

“Just…all of it. This isn’t like you.” 

I answered the doorbell and grabbed the giant fake spider, which I flung out the open door. I chuckled at the terrified screams and went to appease the children with handfuls of Three Musketeers and Snickers. They thought it was great fun and ran off giggling, candy already up to the noses of their trick-or-treat pumpkins. 

Liam was watching me with that adorable little frown again. No, Theodore. Liam does not have an adorable frown.

“What? No one said you had to come over. If it bothers you, leave. I’m having a perfectly nice Halloween.”

I answered the doorbell. When I came back in, Liam was in the kitchen, helping himself to my caramel apples. I glared at him, refilling my candy bowl. 

“Who are you even supposed to be? Edward Cullen?”

“Gross. I’m not dressed up,” he said. 

“Is that…is that _my_ leather jacket? That’s been missing for weeks?”

He looked and smelled guilty. “Maybe…”

“You thieving lemur. Give it back.” 

“No! It’s cold.”

I glared at him. “Give me my jacket.”

The doorbell rang and I hurried off to scare some more kids. When I came back, I took a better look at Liam. 

“Have you _dyed_ your hair?” Why? Why had he died his beautiful hair? No, Theodore. Liam does not--did not, that is--have beautiful hair.

“You just now noticed?”

“Why the hell would you dye your hair _black_?” He scowled at me. I took an even closer look. “You’re wearing blue contacts.”

“How do you know that?”

“Your eyes are a different shade than that. That’s more beta blue. Wait, wait, wait…You’re Derek, aren’t you? Oh my gosh. You totally are, aren’t you?”

He tried not to smirk. “Maybe. Not the issue. Why are you giving out candy?”

“Why does anybody give out candy?”

“I understand old ladies giving out candy, but you?”

“Did you just compare me to an old lady?”

He sighed. The doorbell rang. I opened it with a yell, waving my arms. The six/seven year olds screamed, along with Liam, who was still in the kitchen.

“You’re doing a terrible job staying in character,” I told him after making peace with Darth Vader and a ninja.

“I can’t help it that you’re wearing a frankly horrifying fake beard and yelling like a madman.”

“Well, if you’re Derek, you really ought to have a beard, too.”

“I wasn’t exactly going to draw stubble on my face with eyeliner. Now answer my question; why are you giving out candy?”

“If you’re going to stay, mind your own business. If not, let me get back to my Halloween. I only get one a year.”

He sighed, finishing off his-- _my_ \--caramel apple. “Fine. Is there popcorn?”

“Of course not. It’s Halloween. You eat _kettle corn_ on Halloween, dumbass,” I said, pulling the bag out of the cabinet. “Don’t eat it all. Cider’s in the fridge.”

“Cider? No thanks. I don’t need alcohol. Why do you think I left that party?”

“Probably cause nobody knew who you were,” I said, rolling my eyes and getting the cider out of the fridge to pour myself a glass. “Apple cider. From Walmart.”

“Oh,” he said, brightening. “Awesome.”

Apparently Liam had invited himself over to my house for Halloween. He plopped himself down on the couch to watch the rest of The Mummy’s Hand and munch on kettle corn. It was actually pretty distracting. I wasn’t used to visitors.

I alternated between watching him with a frown and giving out candy. He got just as scared as they did. There seemed to be a lull in trick-or-treaters and I took out the now over Mummy’s Hand to put in Nosferatu. I also lit some incense in the kitchen and started the Bauhaus album over.

I sat down with him for a while, and if he thought I didn’t notice him scooting closer every few moments, he was a fool. 

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he mumbled. “I just don’t like scary movies.”

“Well, c’mere then, dumbass.” 

I honestly don’t know why I said that. Yes you do, Theodore, it’s because you like him. And now you’re trying to use this excuse to cuddle him. No, you don’t, remember? You don’t like Liam.

My self-scolding thoughts were cut off when Liam settled close to me, with our shoulders pressed together. And hips. And knees. I found myself putting an arm around him a moment later, almost subconsciously. 

He relaxed while I internally panicked. I managed to conceal all outward signs of it, except maybe my wide eyes and skyrocketing heartbeat, but I was panicking. Liam was…snuggling with me. Snuggling. Watching movies. Eating my food. I almost forgot to breathe when he leaned his head against my shoulder, heart melting. No, Theodore. This does not mean he likes you back. NO! You DO NOT like him! 

We both jumped when the doorbell rang. I snickered at him. He whacked my arm and mumbled. Probably something rude. I got up and scared some princesses and Liam followed me outside. So we sat on the wicker couch thing on the front porch together and watched the trick-or-treaters. He was closer to me than necessary, given the size of the couch thing. But I honestly couldn’t say I minded. 

He scoffed at the third teenager who had on black leggings and a black shirt, complete with eyeliner whiskers and a cat nose. I watched the ensuing scolding, amused.

“Really? That’s the most unoriginal costume ever. You aren’t even wearing cat ears.”

She didn’t know what to do, eyes flickering between us. 

“Theo’s _twenty_ , and look at the effort he put into his costume,” he continued. “He made that beard.” 

She scuttled off. I smirked at him. No, Theodore, you are not internally preening because he praised you. He was just using you as an example. 

“What?” he asked, finally noticing me looking at him.

“You just told off a trick-or-treater.”

“So? She was, like, fifteen, and that was a half-assed costume.” I raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down. “Don’t even start. I _dyed my hair_ for this costume. It’s not my fault the rest of the pack couldn’t figure it out. I guess it was too clever for them.”

“You do have a point,” I said. “The rest of the pack aren’t brilliant diabolical masterminds.”

His face fell. “Theo, we know you’ve changed.”

“What? I didn’t say anything--”

“--You aren’t a diabolical mastermind. Okay? Maybe you were a little evil in the past, but you’ve changed. We know that.”

“I really don’t think they do.” 

“Well, _I_ know it,” he said stubbornly.

I softened a little. “Thank you.”

He bumped his shoulder into mine, maybe blushing a little. I couldn’t really tell. It was dark. When the next teenager came up, Liam gave me a look.

“I think you have a new best friend,” he said.

“Damn right I do!” I said enthusiastically. “That is an _awesome_ costume.”

“Thanks,” a decidedly female voice said. Liam jumped a little. “Yours, too.”

“Thank you. Hold on one second,” I said, going inside. This was definitely the best costume of the night. She had on a long white robe with a blondish fake beard that matched her shoulder-length hair, which was down. She was wearing a tie-die headband, dark vintage sunglasses, and a vintage vest, too. Truly in the Halloween spirit. I grabbed a bag of Milky-Ways and hurried back out to the porch. “You like these, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” she said.

“Well here you go. Best costume award.”

“Thanks! Happy Halloween, man!”

As she left, Liam shook his head at me. I was still grinning. Hippie steampunk druid, sort of. Definitely the best costume of the night.

“You gave her an entire bag of candy,” Liam said incredulously.

“She deserved it.”

“Fine,” he said, shuddering a little and snuggling closer to me. 

“You cold?” I asked, concerned.

“Yeah, a little. No big deal.”

“Come on, we can go back in. I’ll turn the heater on.”

He seemed to appreciate that, and we ended up snuggling again. It was becoming a heck of a lot harder to say No Theodore, he doesn’t like you, and I’d totally given up trying to tell myself No, Theodore, you don’t like him.

The movie was over a few minutes after we came back in. I referred to my list of Halloween movies and turned off the Bauhaus album. I turned up the volume on the TV again. My next awesome movie needed sound. 

Liam tried to get a look at the case, without much luck. I didn’t exactly try to show it to him, either. “Children of the--No. No way. Absolutely not. No Children of the Corn.” I gave him a look. He adamantly shook his head. “No. I will _leave_ , Theo. And never, ever come back.”

I held up the DVD case so he could see it better. Children of the Stones. He flushed a little and shifted in his seat. 

“Oh,” he said quietly, not looking at me.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I hate that movie, too.”

“When they kill all the people in the drug store in the beginning was when I quit watching it. It gave me nightmares for weeks.”

“Aw,” I said, not even the slightest bit teasing. One hundred percent genuine pity. I sat down close to him again, scenting his distress. Even thinking about Children of the Corn seemed to upset him, poor little thing. I hurried to say, “I think you’ll like this. It’s not actually scary at all, it’s just a kinda strange mini series. It’s got an old English stone circle and a druid and some Morris dancing.”

He seemed slightly reassured, but he still wormed his way closer to me until I put an arm around him. And then he leaned his head against my shoulder again. I was glad he couldn’t see my no doubt dopey smile. What? I couldn’t help it. 

I was almost reluctant to leave him when the doorbell rang, and then there were so many kids I couldn’t leave the door for a long time. It was prime trick-or-treating time now, when everyone was hurrying to get their candy before Mom decided it was time to go home because it was too cold. When things began to die down a little I went back inside. I got us more apple cider and kettle corn, turning the living room light off as I came into the room. Only the TV illuminated the room now, and even through the contacts Liam’s werewolf eyes reflected the light. He was apparently enjoying the show, all Children of the Corn inspired fears gone.

“Happy day,” he quoted as I sat down, then snuggled up close to me.

I smiled. “I love this show.”

We ate all the kettle corn and had all the cider we wanted, interrupted occasionally by the doorbell. Liam pulled a bag of candy out from under the couch at some point.

“I thought I’d better snag one for us before you gave it all out,” he explained. We shared the bag of candy while we watched the rest of the film, me getting up every now and then to give out my now dwindling supply of candy. Liam sighed at the end of the mini series, looking…sad? 

“He should’ve stayed with Margaret. Or taken her with him.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I wish we all had happy endings.”

“Me too.”

“What does your happy ending look like?” I asked, having eaten enough sugar that my usual reserves were utterly gone. 

He stared at me with a soft expression for a moment before the corners of his mouth turned upward in a tiny smile. His eyes fell to my lips. My heart stopped. Did he mean?

I leaned in a little, but he stopped me. Oh no. Now he knew I liked him and there was no way to talk my way out of this. 

But he was only taking off my beard. Our lips met, _finally_ , after literal _years_ , and it was everything I’d imagined and more. It was a gentle kiss, testing the sweet waters. The one that followed it carried all the pent up feelings and need.

The doorbell rang. Liam pulled back and smiled.

“You’d better put your beard back on.”

I gave those kids the scare of their lives, but the yell was pure joy. Best. Halloween. _Ever._


End file.
